Vehicle-body support.



No. 716,666. Patantefl Dec. 23, I902.

w. u. BUTLER.

VEHICLE BODY SUPPORT.

(Applicatiun filed Oct. 4, 1902,)

(No Model.)

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UNITED TATES WILLIAM D. BUTLER, on WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND.

VEHICLE-BODY SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,666, dated December 1902- I Applicationfiled October 4, 1902. Serial No. 125,857. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM D. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Westminster, in the county of Carroll and State of Maryland,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicle-Body Supports, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in vehicle-body supports, and has for its object to provide a support which will permit the body to have a lateral movement independently of the running-gear.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure l is a perspective view of a vehiclebody and the adjacent supporting mechanism. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the two ends of a vehicle-body and illustrates the rock-bar and bearings at each end, the bearings at one end being shown in section, while those at the other end are in side elevation. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail of one of the rockbars.

In the drawings, a designates the axle; h, the fifth-wheel; o, the springs, and d the bolster supported on top of the springs. A bearing 6 is securely bolted at each end of the bolsters, and each of said bearings is provided with a set-screw f. A rock-bar is provided having two parallel ends 9 and h and a stretch 2', which connects said parallel ends, and the ends 9 of said bars are supported in said bolster-bearings 6, while the ends 71 of said bars project beneaththe vehicle-bodyj. These projecting ends 71. of said bars are supported in a body-bearing it, which is bolted to the bottom of said body, and each of the body-bearings 70 is provided with set-screws Z. The ends g of the rock-bars are each provided on their upper sides with a circumferential groove m, which extends substantially half-way around the said bars. The other ends it of said bars are each provided with a circumferential groove 97. on their lower sides, which, like the grooves m, also extend about half-way around the said bar. It will thus be seen that the grooves m and 9?. are in opposite ends of the rock-bars and that the support therefor.

grooves or. extend around the upper half of the bars at one end, while the grooves n extend around the lower half of said bars at the opposite end. A hearing 0, secured to the bottom of the vehicle-bod y j, receives the end h of the rock-bars and serves as an additional It will be clearly seen by reference to Fig. 2 that the set-screws f in the bearings etake in the grooves m on one end of the rock-bar,and that the set-screws Z of the bearings 70 take in the grooves 71 in the other end of said bars, and that those setscrews serve to hold the ends of said rock bars in the bearings against anylongitudinal displacement, but permit said bars to have a lateral swinging movement. It will also be seen that the body j is supported at each cornor by a rock-bar.

The advantages of thus supporting a vehicle-body are numerous and only a few need be mentioned. It relieves the body of many jars and jolts caused by the wheels passing over stones and it permits the vehicle to be turned in a small circle, as the body will shift as the front wheels contact with it, thus giving it the same advantage common to vehicles where the front wheels turn under the body.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a vehicle-body support the combination of the front and rear bolsters; bearings on each end of said bolsters; a vehicle-body between said bolsters and provided on its bottom with a plurality of bearings; a rock-bar supported at its ends by said bolster and body-bearings, said bars at each of their ends having a groove which extends partly around said bar, the groove at one end of each bar being at diametrically opposite sides from the groove at the opposite end and a projection passing through each bearing and entering one of said grooves in the rock-bar for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses. I

' WILLIAM D. BUTLER.

W'itnesses:

J. EZRA STEM, NATHL. I-I. BAUMGARTNER. 

